SHC seeks Sindh govt, CEC explanation

KARACHI The Sindh High Court on Thursday put Chief Election Commissioner, Secretary Local Government and Advocate General Sindh on notice seeking explanation over the delay in holding the local body elections, by May 5. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Mushir Alam and Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi, after hearing preliminary arguments from the petitioner, issued notices to the respondents, and directed them to submit their comments on a constitution petition filed by a representative of Human Rights Commission for South Asia, Syed Mehmood Akhtar Naqvi, pleading to conduct election of the local bodies across the province. Accusing the provincial government and the Election Commissioner of delaying and avoiding to hold local bodies elections, the petitioner submitted that despite the fact that the tenure of previous local body government had completed its period in the last year, but the respondents were not willing to conduct elections while violating the constitution. He maintained that the elections were required to be held in the last year, but the provincial government was not ready to give schedules for new elections. The plaintiff pointed out an article 140(A), 32, 8, 5, 4 and Sindh Local Ordinance 2001, submitting that the provincial government was bound to conduct new elections as per required according to the constitution, but concern authorities reluctant to do so. The government and election commissioner violating the constitution for adopting a delaying tactics in this regard, stated the petitioner. The petitioner also held appointments of administrators at the places of Nazims as illegal stating that they were appointed for limited period, but the non-elected persons and government officials were running the local bodies affairs. He stated that the local body system was established as bridging between people and the government to settle the civic problems at grassroots level. But now a vacuum of communication between them was created due to absence of local body system. The plaintiff submitted that the previous local body government had developed the city, and had launched several development programs particularly from 2005 to 2010. The Chief Minister Sindh, Chief Secretary, Provincial Election Commissioner were cited as respondents. He pleaded the court that the government and election commissioner be issued order to conduct election according to Sindh government ordinance 2001 section 186 (1).